Joshua 22:15
And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying, And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying,
The coming to the land of Gilead to speak with the children of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh was a delegation from the tribes west of the Jordan meeting those tribes after they had returned to their possession east of the Jordan. Those eastern tribes were pastoral tribes that had received their inheritance before crossing the Jordan, having chosen the wide upland plains and rich forests of Gilead and Bashan for grazing their flocks and herds. They had pledged a proportion of armed men to go with their brethren across the Jordan and share their battles until those brethren also entered their inheritance. Forty thousand of them passed over before the Lord unto battle to the plains of Jericho and fought bravely for years in faithful discharge of that obligation, then returned with much riches, very much cattle and silver and gold and brass and iron and very much clothing to share with those who had remained with the families and flocks. They were then to dwell at a distance from the sanctuary, and their isolated and wandering life on the borders of heathen tribes brought strong temptation to fall into heathen customs, causing anxious concern at their departure.
The speech introduced here was a confrontation over the altar the eastern tribes had built, which the western tribes treated as a supposed departure and defection from true worship and a possible act of rebellion against God. The representatives sent by Israel met the tribes east of the Jordan to ask them to explain that altar. Their prompt rebuke arose from fear that Israel would become divided in its interests and worship. It was also an act of prompt and earnest zeal against sin driven by memory of divine rebuke for lack of vigilance to discover sin in the case of Achan and by a resolve to act differently in the future.
The representatives warned that such an altar could lead Israel away from the true faith and bring judgment upon the whole nation. That misunderstanding could have led to grave and even fatal consequences between the tribes. Instead of meeting their brethren with censure, the delegation should first have made courteous inquiry to learn all the facts, for their course went to the opposite extreme from laxness in dealing with sin into harsh judgment and groundless suspicion, teaching that both laxness and harsh judgment must be shunned. The incident teaches that people honestly seeking to serve true religion may be wrongly suspected and reprimanded, and that meekness and forbearance on the part of the accused can avert great harm.